Howard vs. Wake Forest Forum

[LeSabre25]

Hello all

I am currently in the process of hearing back from law schools I've applied to, and I'm struggling between two of them: Howard and Wake Forest. Howard offered me $16,000 a year and Wake Forest offered me $25,000 a year. My current goal is to get a job after graduation in International Human Rights law, and Howard appeals to me because it's the in DC area and while its BigLaw prospects aren't as great as T-14 schools, it does punch above its weight for its ranking. I know Wake Forest is the better ranked school, but I definitely don't want to be stuck in NC after graduation, though I'm nervous about Howard's employment prospects outside of being in the top 15%. I am open to honest opinions about which option would be better.

Also, yes, I'm a URM. Stats were 159 LSAT and 3.1 GPA. Thank you!

[The Lsat Airbender]

Insofar as entry-level, international, human-rights jobs exist, they are generally only attainable (let alone likely) from tippy-top schools and especially Yale. You're also right not to count on being in the top 15% of your class at Howard, which means you should definitely not take on $200k in loans ($248,000 expected CoA minus your scholarship) to go there. Attending either of these schools for free would be a dicey career prospect given that they struggle to place more than about 70% of their graduates into full-time legal jobs at graduation. Separately, you definitely should not attend Wake if you're not okay with spending the rest of your life in the Carolinas.

If you want to go to law school, you need to get your LSAT up substantially so that you can attend a good school, in a location you want, at a price you can afford. (If you really want international human rights you need to get your LSAT above 170 and learn an in-demand language like Mandarin or one of the regional Arabic dialects.)